A Galaxy Away
by exiled mind
Summary: Kylo Ren has given in to the call of the Light and has proposed an offensive against the heart of Snoke's power. He doesn't expect to make it back from that battle. Finn is not satisfied to let that part of the plan play out.


Characters: Finn, Kylo Ren  
Pairing: None  
Rating: Teen  
Prompt: Finn and Kylo Ren screaming at each other about agency and freedom and choice

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 **A Galaxy Away**

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"Come _on_ , Ren. We have to go _now_! We don't have _time-_ "

"No!" Kylo Ren wrenched his arm out of Finn's grasp and tried again to push himself into a more-or-less standing position against the battered walls of the compound. "I'm not finished here." Although was fairly certain that Snoke was too busy trying to escape to continue the mental attack on Ren, he could see the aftereffects of pain on the man's face and the residual trembling of his body.

"This place is rigged to blow, Ren! Poe says we've only got minutes to get off the ground or else we won't clear the likely blast zone. We don't have time to chase Snoke through his own base with who knows how many exit strategies. We'll never make it back to the ship in time if we don't go _now!_ "

"There will be no other chances like this one! No more sneak attacks, no more pretending to still be his faithful pet. If I don't finish this now-"

"You'll die. Even if you can manage to take him down or keep him from leaving the compound." Finn wanted to grab the man by his collar and drag him, even though that same thought sent a chill through his bones.

"That's a choice I made when I proposed this plan."

"But it's not the only choice you have! We didn't come here to sacrifice you, or anyone, unnecessarily. We pinned him down once; we can find a way to do it again. Rey's last report said that half the Knights are dead. Snoke has been weakened and is on the run. We can regroup and track him down, but we'll need your help to do it. So now, we have to _go_!"

"Then go! I won't leave before this is over." Ren's voice was harsh but Finn could see the fear on the man's scarred face beneath the tangled, sweaty mess of his hair. This was Ren at his most desperate.

Finn had volunteered for this mission to carry out a full frontal attack on Snoke, a mission led by none other than a seemingly regretful Kylo Ren. Despite his agreement, Finn had lain fifty-fifty odds that Ren was leading them into a trap, no matter how insistent both Luke Skywalker and Rey were that they could detect nothing but sincerity and desperation from Ren when he'd explained his plan after he'd turned himself into the Resistance in secret and asked to speak to his mother and uncle. Rey still detested the man and even if Luke Skywalker's ocean of regret could cloud his judgment where his nephew was concerned, Rey's distrust was not drawn towards giving him the benefit of the doubt unless it was truly earned.

After seeing what Snoke could do, _had_ done, to Ren's mind right in front of him, seeing the subtler manipulations and cajoling turn to rage and a furious desire to inflict pain…

Ren hadn't turned on them again under the onslaught, nor had he tipped their hand before Skywalker, Rey, Poe, and the other volunteer insurgents had gotten into place and begun their own assault on the compound, Snoke's guards, and the Knights of Ren.

Finn's blaster shots hadn't seemed to harm Snoke, though the surprise of them coming from a supposedly unarmed prisoner was enough to briefly break the hold on Ren. A break that Ren was somehow still prepared to take advantage of despite seeming to have briefly lost control of a third of his body. He had also placed himself and his lightsaber between Snoke and Finn, centering Snoke's attention once again on him.

Seeing Ren defend him with that glowing night terror instead of attack him with it…

Finn no longer doubted Ren's sincerity in wanting Snoke's influence on the galaxy ended, no matter the cost.

"Ren! Stop, Ren!" The other man reached the corridor, turning down toward the depths of the cavern the compound was built into, ignoring Finn completely.

Finn threw his arms up in frustration. "Ben!"

Ren visibly flinched at the name, but he did stop, half-turning back towards Finn.

"I know you think you have to do this, that you are the only one who can." Finn could hear the pleading note in his voice, hated it, but he needed to get through to Ren. "But you don't. You aren't. You aren't the only one that Snoke manipulated. You aren't the only one who was fooled and used as a tool to hurt others."

Ren's eyes flashed up to meet Finn's for a brief, electric moment before he dropped them again. Finn could see his gloved hands curl into fists.

"It's not the same. _We're_ not the same. But what the First Order's training program did to me isn't a full galaxy away from what Snoke did to you. Fingers in your brain, telling you what to do and how to act. How to _feel_." Finn's volume dropped until he wasn't sure Ren would be able to hear him clearly. "Influencing your actions and thoughts in ways you aren't even sure you'd be able to identify, never mind _stop_."

Finn could see Ren shudder, then jerk his head away as through wrenching it away from a grasping hand.

"You broke his control. You are free of him. But now, every choice you make is yours and yours alone. You know what it feels like to think his way and you know what it feels like to break away from that. And now you are on your own."

Finn panted harshly and resisted the urge to check the time that had elapsed since Poe's last transmission. "I know that you don't trust yourself. And I know that you will question yourself and the choices that you make for a long, long time. _I know_. But when you are free to make your own choices you will find that there are a hell of a lot more options than just death and sacrifice. Now you need to make a choice for yourself and the good of the people you claim to want to make amends to."

With that Finn held out a hand and waited.

Long seconds passed before, much to Finn's relief, Ren closed his eyes tightly, his face a rictus of frustration, before turning away from the corridor and stepping back towards Finn. He didn't take Finn's hand, but also didn't shrug off the help of Finn's shoulder under his own as they began to stumble back the way they had come.

::

Back on the transport they'd barely made it back to, everyone was quiet as they strapped in or hung on for an extremely bumpy escape. Once they saw the sky darkening ahead of them and the orange plume of flame behind them fading, they were all able to breathe a little more easily.

Half-collapsed across a bench seat and with only one shoulder strap of his harness on, Ren looked even worse than he had on the planet below. His eyes, however, were clearer and his gaze sharper. "So. Not that different?"

Finn cleared his throat harshly and looked towards the cockpit where both Poe and Rey sat, though only one of them was absolutely necessary, as far away from Ren as the small ship would allow. "Yeah, well. You're a bigger asshole than I am, so there's that." Finn had made sure his voice carried, and he saw Rey glance through the hatchway back at them, hand hovering lightly over the hilt of her lightsaber. He shrugged and shook his head at her until she turned back.

Unexpectedly, Ren smiled. Or at least smirked. Not unlike the expression Finn had seen the man's father wear once, long ago. It was unsettling to note this one similarity between the two men.

"Yes. There is that."


End file.
